The Perfect Gift Exchange
by TangerineSummer
Summary: Despite his father's protestations, Kyoya sets out to purchase a kotatsu for Tamaki. He'll do whatever it takes to make his friend happy, even get a real job for the first time in his life!


A/N: Hi, all! :D This fic will be considerably shorter than my last multi-chapter; there's actually a longer multi-chapter that I am working on outlining right now. This was going to be a oneshot but I decided I had enough material for at least three chapters, maybe more. ^_^ I hope you enjoy! Please review after reading; I really appreciate any and all comments I receive! Thank you in advance. :)

Despite my wealth, I had very little money that was actually mine to spend. While I considered my trustworthiness, practicality, and sense of responsibility all traits I had more than proven I possessed, my father didn't quite view it that way. He thought handing out green paper to a fourteen-year-old boy like it was candy was an act of reckless stupidity and one that would only encourage me to become a carbon copy of all the other spoiled children with whom I fraternized. He told me he wanted me to refrain from excess and instead cultivate a wisely frugal attitude that would help me always stay a step ahead of the thoughtless, the indulgent, and the foolish.

I argued that I would never truly learn a frugal attitude unless I had the opportunity to act in a disparate fashion; if I never had any money to spend, how would I learn to spend it wisely? My father dismissed my debate, staring at me with fire-filled eyes. How dare I speak back to him like that? Had I already become a bold and spoiled brat? He then knew—with keener certainty than ever—that I was not to be given spending money unless I earned it myself.

For a while, I wasn't too concerned with this rule. I was never much of a material guy to begin with, and what I actually did want, I already had. A bedroom that was the size of a normal family's beach house. Custom clothing that my mother always ordered for me with the dawn of each new season. A laptop that worked at the speed of light. Yes, I was content with my possessions, and I knew that my parents would take care of any other major purchases I would ever need to make.

But then there came a day when I wanted something, and I found myself wishing I had a little of my own money to spend on it.

My father had arrived home from a late night at work and immediately took a seat in his usual recliner, quietly lighting a cigarette and putting it to his mouth with ease as he closed his eyes as if in meditation. I waited for a few minutes, watching him from my seated position on the stairs, until he looked like he had attained some peace of mind. Now was the time to strike.

"Father, may I talk to you for a moment?" I asked as I bounded perhaps a bit too eagerly down the stairwell.

He looked over at me, his eyes hidden behind smoke-veiled glasses. "Yes, Kyoya? What is it?"

"I was wondering if I could make a purchase."

"What is it?" my father reiterated.

I hesitated. "A kotatsu."

"What? Why would you want such a thing?"

"It's for the Suoh boy. He wants me to have one, and you did want me to cater to his every desire."

My father put out his cigarette, stood up from his seat, and approached me slowly. Once he reached me, he surprised me by putting his heavy hands on my shoulders and looking me in the eye very somberly. "Kyoya, I never said I wanted you to cater to his every desire. No, no. That's not the way Otoris do things. You should know this. We must retain our dignity, our superiority. We may be amiable to others, but submissive? Never. No."

I shook my head. "It wouldn't be an act of submission, Father. It would only be wise to invest in a kotatsu; if this one purchase could construct a long-enduring friendship between the Suohs and the Otoris, it would be a boundlessly profitable purchase indeed."

"There are other ways to construct friendship, Kyoya. We must always remain equal or better to our allies. We must never give the impression that we are beneath them in any way. Buying a kotatsu just because that spoiled little Suoh boy wants us to have one is akin to telling the entire Suoh family that we are so desperate for their alliance that we will passively do whatever they ask merely because they ask. It is admitting they have some type of power over us."

"It's just a kotatsu! I don't think that is an extravagant desire to fulfill."

"You may not think so. But you are only a child. The act will speak more loudly to the Suoh family than you might think."

"But how can a friendship truly become constructed if one party refuses to bend to the other's desires once in a while?"

My father then stood up and before I even knew what happened, I felt my right cheek burning from the sharp slap I realized he must have thrown across my face. "Kyoya, you have no right to question my authority or my wisdom. I know much more about this world than you could ever hope to learn. We are not buying a kotatsu, and if you know what's good for you, you will stop acting like the Suoh boy's servant. You are an Otori. Don't ever forget that."

He then proceeded to pace back to his recliner, hastily lighting another cigarette in hopes that his sense of serenity could be restored after our confrontation. I stared at him for a few moments before finding solace in my own recliner, which waited for me up in my room. As soon my back felt its velvety surface soothe its aches, I began to think about my father's words.

He said that the act would speak more loudly than I might think. He was right; I knew the simple action of buying a kotatsu would speak quite loudly to Tamaki. I didn't care how many slaps I would have to endure; I was going to buy that kotatsu for my friend.

And that's why I decided to go job-hunting the very next morning.


End file.
